{"id":3854,"date":"2016-10-05T14:18:21","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T18:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=3854"},"modified":"2025-10-17T16:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:35:14","slug":"truth-and-reconciliation-commission","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/truth-and-reconciliation-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"From Truth to Reconciliation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n From Truth to Reconciliation\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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\u201cIf you thought getting to the truth was hard, getting to reconciliation is going to be really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

So said Senator Murray Sinclair<\/a>, the chair of Canada\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission<\/a> (TRC), in an address to a packed theatre in Carleton\u2019s River Building on Oct. 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evening event, presented by the university\u2019s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences<\/a> and billed as an \u201cinclusive discussion on Indigenousness in Canada,\u201d was an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and other members of the Carleton community to learn more about the past, present and future of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from the man who has been at the heart of the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinclair, a M\u00e9tis\/Ojibwa from Manitoba who became the province\u2019s first Indigenous judge, participated in hundreds of Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings across Canada and heard more than 12,000 testimonials and statements from residential school survivors and their families, \u201cincluding some who only wanted to talk about the pain, not the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Senator
Senator Murray Sinclair, the chair of Canada\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission released 94 calls to action<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

He was front and centre when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report<\/a> in December 2015, and he has remained a vocal advocate for the commission\u2019s 94 calls to action<\/a> since being appointed to the Senate in April 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a lot of work to do,\u201d he said during his talk at Carleton, which last hosted Sinclair in November 2015 to present him with an honorary degree. \u201cWe\u2019re not just talking about changing a system. We\u2019re getting people to think differently.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cResidential schools were with us for 130 years, until 1996. Seven generations of children went to residential schools. It\u2019s going to take generations to fix things.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Education is one of the keys to reconciliation, said Sinclair, who likes the changes he has seen so far at elementary and high schools, where content on residential schools has already been added to some lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change can be difficult in a university setting, he acknowledged. But universities such as Carleton must remain on this path<\/a> \u2014 and if you don\u2019t persevere in the face of obstacles, he added, \u201cthen you will perpetuate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image image=”3880″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be particularly difficult for the federal government, continued Sinclair, even though the prime minister \u201chas said and probably intends to do the right thing.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGovernment departments have to change the way they do business. Government needs to change its behaviour. We\u2019re putting the responsibility to change in the hands of people who have made their careers by not changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChange is not easy for most people, but for governments it\u2019s really hard. They\u2019re scared it\u2019s going to cost them a lot of money, and if they spend too much they won\u2019t get re-elected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Senator
Senator Murray Sinclair delivers an address to a packed theatre in Carleton\u2019s River Building.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Children were punished for practicing their cultures in residential schools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Speaking without notes, Sinclair talked about the horrors of residential schools, where children were subjected to physical, sexual and emotional abuse; punished for speaking their languages or practicing their cultures; repeatedly told that Indigenous peoples were \u201cinferior savages;\u201d denied adequate food; and kept apart from their families, often for years, with parents not necessarily told when their child died.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt was a genocide,\u201d said Sinclair. \u201cA policy of forced assimilation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The resulting legacy of intergenerational trauma is what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its calls to action seek to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to grow toward a mutually respectful relationship,\u201d said Sinclair, noting that one of the first steps is for Indigenous youth to regain a sense of self-respect and pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission\u2019s calls to action begin with child welfare and education for this very reason, and then segue to language, culture and health. A stronger sense of identity, said Sinclair, will help Indigenous peoples find direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event at the River Building began with a smudging ceremony on the patio overlooking the Rideau River.<\/p>\n\n\n

[wide-image image=”3870″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinclair was introduced by Prof. Kahente Horn-Miller<\/a> from Carleton\u2019s recently renamed School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies<\/a> \u2014 a change that received a loud burst of applause from the audience when it was mentioned by Horn-Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to thank Senator Sinclair and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the words and actions that inspired us to make this change,\u201d she said, adding that Sinclair had donated his speaking fee to a bursary that will be given to a student in the Indigenous and Canadian Studies program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinclair\u2019s speech was also preceded by a few words from his wife, Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair, who talked about what the TRC process was like for her and the couple\u2019s children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Truth
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Chair Sinclair’s speech was preceded by a few words from his wife Katherine Morrisseau-Sinclair (left). Also pictured: Interim FASS Dean Wallace Clement (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Morrisseau-Sinclair was concerned about Sinclair\u2019s health and eating habits while he travelled and attended hearings. \u201cTake him to the gym with you,\u201d she\u2019d say to his assistant. \u201cGet him to walk more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing she attended in Inuvik, NWT, Morrisseau-Sinclair described the testimony of a woman in her 90s who endured horrible beatings at a residential school. Afterwards, the woman\u2019s children and grandchildren enveloped her with hugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew it was important for him to do this,\u201d Morrisseau-Sinclair realized. \u201cThe grannies needed him. The kids needed him. The moms and dads needed him.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cEverybody wanted him in their community. Everybody wanted him to hear their stories.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Carleton event had lighter moments too, such as Sinclair\u2019s explanation of his nickname, The Justinator. Judges are allowed to keep the \u201cJustice\u201d honourific after they retire, and senators can always call themselves \u201csenator,\u201d so he has combined the two terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one point during his talk, Sinclair\u2019s cellphone rang. \u201cThat\u2019s my elder,\u201d he said while turning off the ringer. \u201cHe\u2019ll have to wait.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you thought getting to the truth was hard, getting to reconciliation is going to be really hard.\u201d So said Senator Murray Sinclair, the chair of Canada\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), in an address to a packed theatre in Carleton\u2019s River Building on Oct. 3. The evening event, presented by the university\u2019s Faculty of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28],"cu_story_tag":[1921,1927],"class_list":["post-3854","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-public-and-global-affairs","cu_story_tag-indigenous"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/3854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/3854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97660,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/3854\/revisions\/97660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=3854"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=3854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}